News
Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), extended greetings from the worldwide fellowship of churches to Archbishop Dr Antje Jackelén at her inauguration in the Cathedral of Uppsala on 15 June.
Jackelén, born 4 June 1955 in Germany, is the new Archbishop of Uppsala, Sweden. She was ordained in the [Lutheran] Church of Sweden in 1980 and became a doctor of Theology at Lund University in 1999. In October 2013, she was elected archbishop and primate of the Church of Sweden, thus making her Sweden's first female archbishop.
Speaking on behalf of the WCC, Tveit said, “Through your many efforts and participation in the ecumenical movement already, we feel that we receive you as our dear sister and as one who already offers leadership among us. It is a special joy to be here at this occasion. We give thanks for your new ministry.”
The general secretary added, “We need your voice and your message from the risen Christ to us, here and in the worldwide fellowship. Your personal presence and your gifts are dear to me and to many of the brethren today, but not at least to many sisters.”
The archbishop said in her sermon in the Cathedral of Uppsala: “When Nathan Söderblom became archbishop of the Church of Sweden a hundred year ago, in the autumn of 1914 when the First World War had just begun, he realized that Christians from different countries and churches needed to talk to one another and work together for peace and the good of the world. The powerful nationalism of the early 20th century put a spoke in the wheel of his peace initiatives. But he did set in the motion cooperation between the churches, ecumenism. ‘God’s orchestra plays music of many parts,’ as he put it.”
More information (in Swedish): http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/arkebiskopen
